Visit to New York Stock Exchange helps classroom concepts come to life

kdavis@tnwesleyan.eduNov 07, 2018

On Monday, October 29, 14 students and faculty from Tennessee Wesleyan University’s Goodfriend School of Business visited the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for the second consecutive year. The students who took part in the trip are in the financial investments course, taught by Sandy Maddox. Students in this course are pursuing a degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance.

“We were thrilled that we were able to take another group of students and faculty to have this experience. The general public cannot enter the New York Stock Exchange, so we are very fortunate that Mr. Maddox helped make this dream a reality,” says Dr. Martha Maddox, Associate Dean of the Goodfriend School of Business. Student, McKenzie White commented on the trip, “This was a once in a lifetime trip and helped me understand the application of the textbook concepts. It was so neat to see an IPO actually in action!”

Visiting the New York Stock Exchange was the highlight of the trip. Another important visit was touring the bond trading floor of Citigroup near Wall Street. The students also toured The King’s College, where Tennessee Wesleyan is part of a consortium which allows TWU students the opportunity to study for one semester in NYC. One current TWU student, Will Doerger, is participating in the program this semester.

The students had the opportunity to visit many landmarks around New York City in their free time. Some of the places that the students visited were Ground Zero, the Freedom Tower, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Central Park and a cruise by the Statue of Liberty.

Experiential trips for our business students are generously funded by the Goodfriend family, of which the business school is named. Dr. Robert Goodfriend is dedicated to helping TWU students gain the experience they need to be successful business leaders in their communities and abroad. In addition to the yearly New York trip, business students have traveled to Australia and New Zealand and are planning a trip to England, Ireland and Scotland this upcoming summer.

Tennessee Wesleyan University, founded in Athens, Tennessee in 1857, is a comprehensive liberal arts institution affiliated with the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. The University offers more than 30 academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate level and is dedicated to supporting and mentoring students as they explore and discover their purpose.